Distorted Statistics in the Wild

Here is an article titled “Girls Gone Bad: Statistics Distort the Truth.” I think this is a misleading headline. Statistics don’t distort the truth; the misinterpretaion of statistics distorts the truth.

Here are the two comments on the article from the site:
The first from xpan09: “That’s true. Statistics should wait before announcing a rise in violence until policies concerning them have leveled off. Also, what I’ve seen of girls being violent has not changed from my perspective and has been constant throughout my years.”

and the second from Ival: “Accurate statistics are just that and nothing more. Only liars and spinners distorth truth.”

I didn’t know that statistics could wait. What else can statistics do that I didn’t know about? Can statistics drive cars? Can they play basketball? Poor xpan09. He is the same person who would be out there saying “See, see, the numbers back me up!” if he was on the other side of the argument.